With all the defending Veiled Soldiers dead, the palace courtyard was overrun with Luxenberg soldiers. They had successfully secured the courtyard, raised the portcullis, and opened the gates.
Hundreds of reinforcing soldiers swarmed in and surrounded the Gu Palace. None of the soldiers dared to enter the palace first. They would wait for their King and let him be one of the first people to enter the sacred palace of the Gu family.
Before the sun had fully set, Victor and his entourage of Royal Guard soldiers arrived in the palace courtyard. Victor was quick to congratulate his men on their valiant effort. They had fought hard today, and their contributions to this siege were duly noted.
Members of the Royal Guard were the first to breach the palace; there was no guarantee that there were no defenders left, so caution was advised. In small units, the Royal Guard swept the palace, leaving the throne room for last.
One by one, every room in the palace was swiftly swept for enemies. The precision of the Royal Guard was elite; they were efficient and quick. It would not take them long to fully sweep the majority of the palace. There were a few enemies lying in wait in some of the rooms, but they were no real threat.
When the whole palace was cleared, Victor and his escorting bodyguards entered the palace and stepped into the grand throne room of the Gu Palace. The throne room stretched out in solemn silence, vast as a cathedral and colder than stone.
Sunlight filtered in through tall, arched windows high above, casting long shafts of pale light that did little to warm the air. Dust floated through those golden beams like drifting ash, undisturbed for what felt like ages. Every sound—every footstep, every breath—vanished into the silence, swallowed by the immensity of the space.
The throne itself stood at the far end of the chamber, raised upon a dais of seven wide steps. Carved from black wood inlaid with bone-white ivory, it sat beneath a canopy of gilded bronze. Its cushions were luxurious red velvet, where many kings had leaned, and the back was etched with scenes of battles and coronations—glorious, terrible, unreadable in the dimming light.
Upon the throne was King Gu Tian, his face weathered with a storm of emotions. Silence reigned, not the peace of serenity, but the hush of abandonment—a silence that pressed against the ears like deep water. For a room full of soldiers and kings, it was eerily empty.
Victor broke the silence as he approached the seated King Gu Tian. "Your majesty, I have been wanting to meet you for some time." He said this while offering a theatrical and insincere bow.
King Gu Tian remained unimpressed and remained silent. The cunning King had no retort; he just sat there, eyes fixated on Victor. His silence made Victor unamused. Sensing that the Gu Tian was not a threat, Victor ordered all the soldiers to exit the throne room. They all exited the throne room in a swift fashion, leaving only Victor and Gu Tian remaining there.
"I must admit, I did not think that we would converse much. Nevertheless, you can not fault me for trying," Victor quipped, while drifting closer and closer to the throne. Victor's footsteps echoed throughout the throne room.
King Gu Tian slowly rose from his throne and descended the throne, the tension was pungent as he slowly made his way towards Victor. "Now we can talk as equals," He said in an indifferent tone.
Victor quickly replied, "Very well then." The two men spent a minute just staring at each other, no words were exchanged. Each man was sizing up the other, getting a feel as to who was in front of them.
"I will tell you the same thing I told your uncle, it seems the rumours about you were exaggerated. They made it seem like you were this heroic and saint-like figure. It is safe to say that you are not like that. You a merely an ordinary man who has reached his thirties," King Gu Tian snarked.
Victor chuckled at Gu Tian's remark and replied, "I am sorry to disappoint, but yes, I am merely an ordinary man. But if I am an ordinary man, what does that make you? Someone who kills emissaries and starts a war with no provocation is surely to be a vile human being, or am I wrong, your Majesty?
King Gu Tian's indifferent face turned into a slight grin. "You make an excellent point, you King. Maybe I am exactly that, but what difference is there between killing some emissaries and using horrendous weapons to kill over 100,000 soldiers? In the end, we are the same. We do what it takes to remain victorious and in power. Our positions were not given to us, we had to earn them, take them and continue to hold them."
As much as Victor wanted to argue, he knew deep down that there was some truth hidden in Gu Tian's words. No matter how deeply Victor felt about his own righteousness and purity, there was the nagging realisation that he was only kidding himself. His path up to this point was built upon Hundreds of thousands of corpses.
"Why so silent, you King? Where is the confident and righteous man that the rumours claim you to be? Perhaps your silence indicates that you know that I am right. As much as you want to deny it, we are more alike than you think. Your title was won by your soldiers when you overthrew your father, just like my title was won by my elite guard when they slaughtered my older brothers," King Gu Tian remarked.
Victor could not conjure any retort that would prove Gu Tian wrong; he could only admit that Gu Tian was right.
"I guess you are right, however, my rule has only brought peace, prosperity and security to my lands. I did not drag them into a war they could not win. In fact, I did not force my sons into military campaigns. Your sons died due to your stupid actions. So I must ask, what possessed you to go to war against me, so shortly after unifying your continent?"
King Gu Tian did not show anger or frustration, but genuine sadness. His answer would shock Victor deeply.